Phoenix Suns: Devin Booker playing point guard makes Eric Bledsoe expendable
Even though Eric Bledsoe is one of the better point guards in the NBA, Phoenix Suns’ rising star Devin Booker makes him more than expendable.
During his tenure with the Phoenix Suns, Eric Bledsoe has been a more than great for the franchise. Last season, he even averaged a career high in 21.1 points and 6.3 assists per game. It would appear on the surface that Bledsoe will be with the Suns for a while longer. However the 27 year-old point guard may be a great player, but has become more than expendable because of Devin Booker.
According to Scott Bordow of azcentral, both Booker and Bledsoe will share point guard duties while on the floor together this season. Bordow reported the reason why is because the Suns believe that playmaking is one of the next major steps of Booker’s development based on his play at the point guard last season.
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This move makes sense for the Phoenix Suns. If Booker can deliver at being a primary playmaker, then he could easily become the next point guard of the young Suns’ roster. Let’s say for argument sake that Booker is not the answer at point guard, but he could fill the gap until the team finds the correct answer. Whether that answer comes through the free agency, trade, draft or developing another player currently on the roster for example, Tyler Ulis, the Suns will be in decent shape.
The move of sharing time at point guard with Booker is just another inch closer to trading Bledsoe. This could be a way the Suns could be preparing the team for life after Bledsoe. He is in his prime and has two years left on his contract, which makes him a valuable trade asset. Bledsoe was in rumors around acquiring Kyrie Irving before Irving was ultimately traded to the Boston Celtics. This makes it more than likely that Bledsoe’s name will be in trade talks again later this season.
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The move to have Booker and Bledsoe share the point guard duties could have two possible purposes. The first could be to see if Booker can be a full time point guard and to ease him into the job. The second could be make Bledsoe less needed and to prepare the Phoenix Suns for life after a Bledsoe trade.